August 1, 2026
ChoreoLab: Makers and Movers
Join us for the ChoreoLab performance on Saturday, Aug. 1, a showcase of emerging talent in dance and choreography. This one-week workshop culminates in an evening that highlights the creative process and collaboration between dancers and choreographers.
The Mover Track: Dancers aged 16-22 will present works created under the mentorship of esteemed choreographers Amy Seiwert and DeeAnna Hiett. Selected through an in-person Summer Intensive Audition, these dancers will bring their skills and passion to the stage in a series of captivating performances.
The Maker Track: Student choreographers aged 18-24 will unveil their original pieces, developed through seminars and direction. Guided by professional choreographers, these young creators have worked closely with dancers to explore and innovate within a process-oriented environment.
Experience the future of dance in an evening that celebrates creativity, mentorship, and collaboration.
DeeAnna Hiett
DeeAnna Hiett, a Texas native, began her professional career with Ailey II following her receipt of a full merit scholarship to The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She subsequently became a charter member of The Jamison Project under the artistic leadership of Judith Jamison and later performed with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Her distinguished performance career includes engagements with Ballet Hysell, Deeply Rooted Dance Theater, Quixotic, and Wylliams Henry Contemporary Dance Theater, where she also served as Co-Artistic Director. She has appeared as a guest artist with numerous companies, including Kansas City Ballet, and has performed and choreographed for an array of operatic and commercial productions. Her notable appearances include a performance at Career Transitions for Dancers’ 22nd Anniversary Jubilee at New York City Center. Hiett’s choreographic work has been presented nationally, highlighted by her piece Without a Word, performed at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Her artistic achievements have been recognized with the Generative Performing Artist Award from the Charlotte Street Foundation. She currently serves as Professor and Chair of Dance at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory, where she continues to foster excellence in dance performance, creation, and scholarship.
AMY SEIWERT
Amy Seiwert, the Artistic Director of Smuin Contemporary Ballet, is the recipient of numerous choreographic awards, including a “Goldie” award from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which described Seiwert as the Bay Area’s most original dance thinker, “taking what some consider a dead language and using it with a 21st-century lingo to tell us something about who we are.” In 2017 Seiwert’s first full-evening work, Wandering, set to Schubert’s Winterreise, was commissioned by the Joyce Theater in New York. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Kennedy Center have also supported Seiwert’s creations. A former Artist in Residence at ODC Theater, she has also served on the Artist Faculty for Jacob’s Pillow’s Contemporary Ballet program. Her creations are in the repertory of Smuin, ODC/Dance, BalletX, Ballet Austin, and AXIS Dance, as well as Washington, Atlanta, Oakland, Kansas City, Colorado, Louisville, Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, American Repertory, and Milwaukee Ballets.
ChoreoLab: Movers and Makers
The ChoreoLab: Makers and Movers is a one week workshop taking place at the end of the Summer Intensive. It has 2 tracks: The Maker Track and The Mover Track. Learn more at the link below.